Fabrics made from high performance polymer fibers may utilized in a variety of commercial and private end-uses ranging from composites and aircraft to body armor and armored vehicles. Performance textiles are also used across the market to provide fabrics and designs that can withstand heat, abrasions, stains, discolorations, and other environmental assaults. Antiballistic articles or fabrics woven for life protection are used to repel and trap ammunition, shrapnel, or hand driven sharp objects such as knives, awls, shanks and the like. These antiballistic fabrics are typically layered, cut, and stitched in a pattern to construct protective soft armor such as vests, or may be used in the construction of armored vehicles and helmets.
High performance fabrics may be woven in patterns such as plains, twills, baskets, and satins. The warp and fill yarn interlace at right angles, are typically light weight, and preferably have floats extending over multiple yarns. Patterns such as twill and satins have shown improved ballistic performance due in part to the longer floats of a looser weave. For instance, when a projectile hits a protective vest or other article of protective material, the resulting back face deformation is typically reduced in a looser weave than when compared to a plain weave. The main goal of protective armor is to prevent fatalities and minimize damage, injury and blunt force trauma to the person(s) being protected; therefore, it is most desirable utilize a fabric that results in less back face deformation. However, using these type of weaves represents a challenge to armor manufacturers during layering and cutting patterns due to looseness of the fabric structure, fraying, and distortion that causes yarn interlacing to deviate from right angle interlacing. The yarns of these fabrics are not secured as well within the fabric layer and therefore tend to fray and fall apart along the cut edges more easily. For these reasons, these weaving patterns are not widely used in the high performance fabric industry. Although the performance characteristics of the fabric may be enhanced by these particular weaves, the difficulty in handling poses a large problem.
When using a tighter weave, such as a plain weave, the handleablility during fabric construction may be improved over that of a looser weave; however, the performance characteristics may not be up to par for a particular end-use. Furthermore, high performance fabrics constructed from a plain weave or a tight construction may not conform as easily to a particular shape or curvature. When designing vests or other clothing, this characteristic translates to clothing that does not conform as well to a person's body and tends to be very uncomfortable to wear. When military personnel and law enforcement wear antiballistic clothing, maintaining maneuverability is essential; these articles should provide protection, not distraction. Therefore, it would be beneficial to design a high performance fabric of a lower weight and improved comfort that can bend and conform more easily to accommodate both men and women of varying body types and sizes, as well as maintaining the high quality performance characteristics required of these articles.
Given the problems and disadvantages associated with the current art, it would be advantageous to provide a weaving pattern and process that results in a fabric having the handleablility of a tighter weave with the performance characteristics of a looser weave. This fabric would maintain shape and construction during the manufacturing of an end-use product, yet still possess the advantages resulting from the longer float of a looser weave. A further advantage would be improved tightness and stabilization of the fabric, particularly when the fabric is cut and sewn together to form a desired system, yet the fabric may still conform easily to a variety of shapes and curvatures. The weave pattern and process of the present invention provides stability of fabric structure without compromising the quality and performance characteristics of the end-use product.